The Faculty

ACADEMICS

The Faculty
C. Robert Wetzel
Robert F. Hull Jr.
Thomas E. Stokes
Jason A. Bembry
Paul M. Blowers
Samuel “Kip” Elolia
Jack B. Holland
Thomas F. Jones Jr.
Miriam Perkins
Rollin A. Ramsaran
Christopher A. Rollston
Michael L. Sweeney
John E. Wasem
Teresa D. Welch
Emeritus, Part-Time, and Adjunct Faculty

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Dr. Paul Blowers

Education
• B.A., Milligan College
• M.Div., Emmanuel School of Religion
• M.A. and Ph.D., University of Notre Dame

Ministry Experience
Three years in associate and cross-cultural ministry

Publications
Exegesis and Spiritual Pedagogy in Maximus the Confessor
The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity, ed. and trans.
Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed.
 
 

Bio
  

  
Paul M. Blowers

Dean E. Walker Professor of Church History


Bibliography
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Published Works

Books/Monographs

Creator and Creation in Early Christian Thought.  Under contract with WipfandStock Publishing, Eugene OR. 

General Editor, with Douglas A. Foster, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams, The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.

 Translator, with Robert L. Wilken, On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ:  Selected Writings from St. Maximus the Confessor, Popular Patristics Series.  Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003.

 Editor, with Angela Russell Christman, David E. Hunter, and Robin Darling Young, In Dominico Eloquio / In Lordly Eloquence:  Essays on Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis Wilken.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.

 Author, with Anthony L. Dunnavant and Richard T. Hughes, Founding Vocation and Future Vision:  The Self-Understanding of Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ.  St. Louis:  Chalice Press, 1999. 

Editor/Translator/Contributor, The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity, The Bible through the Ages, vol. 1. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.

 Author, Exegesis and Spiritual Pedagogy in Maximus the Confessor:  An Investigation of the Quaestiones ad Thalassium, Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity, vol. 7. Notre Dame, Indiana:  University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.

 Articles in Journals and Books

“Envy’s Narrative Scripts:  Cyprian, Basil, and the Monastic Sages on the Anatomy and Cure of the Invidious Emotions,” Modern Theology (in press and forthcoming January 2009).

“Entering ‘this Sublime and Blessed Amphitheatre’:  Contemplation of Nature and Interpretation of the Bible in the Patristic Period,” in Interpreting Nature and Scripture:  History of a Dialogue in the Abrahamic Religions, ed. Jitse van der Meer and Scott Mandelbrote.  Leiden: E. J. Brill (in press and forthcoming).

“Making Ends Meet:  Variable Uses of the Psalm Title Unto the End (eis to telos) in Greek Patristic Commentators on the Psalter,” Studia Patristica (in press and forthcoming).

“Gregory of Nyssa,” in Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters, ed. Donald K. McKim, revised edition.  Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2007, pp. 481-485.

“Interpreting Scripture,” in The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 2:  Constantine to c. 600. ed. Augustine Casiday and Frederick W. Norris.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 618-636.

“Bodily Inequality, Material Chaos, and the Ethics of Equalization in Maximus the Confessor,” Studia Patristica 42, ed. F. Young, M. Edwards, and P. Parvis.  Leuven: Peeters Press, 2006, pp. 51-56.

“The Doctrine of Creation,” in The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies, ed. Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David G. Hunter.  Oxford: Oxford University Press (in press and forthcoming).

“Apokatastasis,” “Celsus,” “Conversion,” “Divinization,” “Dualism,” “Fathers of the Eastern Church,” “Paschal Controversy,” “Perfectionism,” and “Quartodecimans,” in the Westminster Dictionary of Church History.  Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press (in press and forthcoming).

 “Eastern Orthodox Biblical Interpretation,” in A History of Biblical Interpretation, vol. 2, ed. Alan Hauser and Duane Watson.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans (in press and forthcoming).

 “A Psalm ‘Unto the End’:  Eschatology and Anthropology in Maximus the Confessor’s Commentary on Psalm 59,” in The Harp of Prophecy:  The Psalms in Early Christian Exegesis, ed. Brian E. Daley.  Notre Dame, Indiana:  University of Notre Dame Press (in press and forthcoming).

 “Engaging Tradition as an Imperative for the Stone-Campbell Churches:  A Response to Leonard Allen’s ‘The Future of the Restoration Movement,’” Leaven 14 (2006): 178-184.

 Spiritually Feeding:  Toward a Sacramental Interpretation of John 6:51c-58 for the Churches of the Stone-Campbell Tradition,Leaven 14 (2006): 16-22.

 “Christian Churches and Churches of Christ,” in The Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, 2nd ed., ed. Samuel S. Hill, Charles H. Lippy, and Charles Reagan Wilson.  Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2005, pp. 184-187.

 Articles in The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004:

                Authored:  “Barclay, James Turner” (pp. 69-70) ; “Consensus Fidelium” (pp. 234-235); “Creeds and Confessions” (pp. 252-256); “DeGroot, Alfred T.” (p. 266); “Democratization” (p. 267); “Elmore, Robert E.” (p. 299); “Fathers of the Church, Appeal to the” (pp. 332-333); “Fife, Robert Oldham” (pp. 336-337); “God, Doctrine of” (pp. 356-359); “Jews and Judaism, Views of in the Movement” (pp. 426-430); “Liberty” (pp. 476-478); “Ministry” (pp. 521-533); “Richardson, Robert” (pp. 649-652); “Robinson, William” (pp. 654-655)

                Co-authored:  “Africa, Missions in—Christian Churches/Churches of Christ” (pp. 9-10); “Anthropology” (pp. 29-32); “Baptism” (pp. 57-67); “Calvinism” (pp. 108-112); “Declaration and Address” (pp. 263-266); “Emmanuel School of Religion” (pp. 299-300); “Faith” (pp. 327-329); “Grace, Doctrine of” (pp. 364-367); “Hispanics in the Movement—Christian Churches/Churches of Christ” (p. 400); “Justification, Doctrine of” (pp. 438-440); “Lord’s Supper” (pp. 480-496); “Latin America and Caribbean, Missions in—Christian Churches/Churches of Christ” (pp. 459-460); “Revelation” (pp. 647-649); “Stone-Campbell History over Three Centuries:  A Survey and Analysis” (pp. xxi-xxxv); “Theology—Christian Churches/Churches of Christ” (pp. 738-740); “Worship—Nineteenth Century” (pp. 786-788).

 “Rule of Faith” and “School of Caesarea,” in The Westminster Handbook to Origen, ed. John A. McGuckin.  Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, pp. 187-9, 191-3.

 “Christian Churches, Churches of Christ,” in The Encyclopedia of Protestantism, vol. 1, ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand.  New York and London: Routledge, 2004, pp. 398-402.

 “A Tribute to Robert Louis Wilken,” in In Dominico Eloquio / In Lordly Eloquence:  Essays on Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis Wilken, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Angela Russell Christman, David E. Hunter, and Robin Darling Young.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002, pp. x-xiv.

 “The World in the Mirror of Holy Scripture:  Maximus the Confessor’s Short Hermeneutical Treatise in Ambiguum ad Joannem 37,” in In Dominico Eloquio / In Lordly Eloquence:  Essays on Patristic Exegesis in Honor of Robert Louis Wilken, ed. Paul M. Blowers, Angela Russell Christman, David E. Hunter, and Robin Darling Young.  Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002, pp. 408-26.

 “A Response to Richard Hamm’s Paper on Disciples Polity” (in symposium on “Cane Ridge at 200:  Stone-Campbell Voices in Dialogue”), Mid-Stream: The Ecumenical Movement Today 40 (2001): 39-45.

 “The Passion of Jesus Christ in Maximus the Confessor:  A Reconsideration,” Studia Patristica 37, ed. M. F. Wiles and E. J. Yarnold.  Leuven: Peeters, 2001, pp. 361-377.

 “Gregory of Nyssa,” and “Maximus the Confessor,” in the Biographical Dictionary of Christian Theologians, ed. Joseph Lienhard and Patrick Carey.  (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000), 221-226, 354-357.

 “Restoring the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church:  The Declaration and Address as Interpreted by William Robinson and Frederick Doyle Kershner,” in The Quest for Christian Unity, Peace, and Purity:  Texts and Studies, ed.  Thomas H. Olbricht and Hans Rollmann, ATLA Monograph Series 46.  Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2000, pp. 365-388.

 “Neither Calvinists nor Arminians, but Simply Christians:  The Stone-Campbell Movement as a Theological Resistance Movement,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 35 (2000): 133-154.

 “Keeping the ‘Current Reformation’ Current:  The Challenge of Ongoing Self-Interpretation in the Stone-Campbell Tradition,” in Founding Vocation and Future Vision:  The Self-Understanding of Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ.  (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 1999), pp. 75-101.

 “Realized Eschatology in Maximus the Confessor, Ad Thalassium 22,” in Studia Patristica 32, ed. Elizabeth Livingstone.  Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Press, 1997, pp. 258-263.  

 “The Regula Fidei and the Narrative Character of Early Christian Faith,” Pro Ecclesia 6 (1997): 199-228.

 “The Bible and Spiritual Doctrine:  Some Controversies within the Early Eastern Christian Ascetic Tradition,” in Paul M. Blowers, ed., The Bible in Greek Christian Antiquity, The Bible through the Ages, vol. 1.  Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997, pp. 228-255.

 “Gentiles of the Soul:  Maximus the Confessor on the Substructure and Transformation of the Human Passions,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 4 (1996):  57-85.

 “The Anagogical Imagination:  Maximus the Confessor and the Legacy of Origenian Hermeneutics,” in Origeniana Sexta:  Origène et la Bible/Origen and the Bible.  Actes du Colloquium Origenianum Sextum, Chantilly, 30 août - 3 septembre 1993, ed. Gilles Dorival and Alain le Boulluec, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, vol. 118.  Leuven, Belgium:  Peeters/Leuven University Press, 1995, pp. 639-654.

 With Robert Wilken and John Levenson, “Interpreting the Bible:  Three Views” (a response to the Pontifical Biblical Commission Report on “The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church”) First Things no. 45 (Aug./Sept. 1994):  40-42.  Also reprinted in James Leslie Houlden, ed., The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.  London: SCM Press, 1995.

 “The Analogy of Scripture and Cosmos in Maximus the Confessor,” Studia Patristica 27, ed. Elizabeth Livingstone.  Leuven: Peeters Press, 1993, pp. 145-149.

 “Theology as Integrative, Visionary, Pastoral:  The Legacy of Maximus the Confessor,” Pro Ecclesia 2 (1993):  216-230.

 “‘Living in a Land of Prophets’:  James T. Barclay and an Early Disciples of Christ Mission to Jews in the Holy Land,” Church History 62 (1993):  494-513.  Also reprinted in Michael W. Casey and Douglas A. Foster, eds., The Stone-Campbell Movement:  An International Religious Tradition.  Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2003, pp. 271-291.

 “Nearly ‘Stone Silence’:  Barton Warren Stone in the Memory of the Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ,” in Cane Ridge in Context:  Perspectives on Barton Stone and the Revival, ed. Anthony Dunnavant.  Nashville:  Disciples of Christ Historical Society, 1992, pp. 21-40. 

 “The Logology of Maximus the Confessor in His Criticism of Origenism,” in Origeniana Quinta, ed. Robert J. Daly, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, vol. 105.  Leuven:  Peeters/Leuven University Press, 1992, pp. 570-576.

 “Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, and the Concept of ‘Perpetual Progress,’” Vigiliae Christianae 46 (1992):  151-171.

 Articles on “Creation,” “Fall,” and “Original Sin;” minor articles on “Cerinthus,” “The Gospel according to the Hebrews,” “Heracleon,” and “Simon Magus,” in The Encyclopaedia of Early Christianity, ed. Everett Ferguson, et al. 2nd ed.  New York:  Garland Publishing, 1996.

 “Origen, the Rabbis, and the Bible:  Toward a Picture of Judaism and Christianity in Third-Century Caesarea,” in Origen:  His World and His Legacy, ed. Charles Kannengiesser and William Petersen. Notre Dame, Indiana:  University of Notre Dame Press, 1988, pp. 96-116.  Also reprinted in Everett Ferguson, ed., Christianity in Relation to Jews, Greeks, and Romans, Recent Studies in Early Christianity, vol. 2.  New York: Garland, 1999.

 Book Reviews

 1. Longer reviews:

 John Behr, The Nicene Faith, vol. 2, parts 1-2, in St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 50 (2006): 307-311.

 Adam Cooper, The Body in St. Maximus the Confessor:  Holy Flesh, Holy Deified, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 14 (2006): 391-392. 

Andrew Louth, St. John Damascene:  Tradition and Originality in Byzantine Theology, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 13 (2005): 396-398.

 Richard Sorabji, Emotion and Peace of Mind:  From Stoic Agitation to Christian Temptation, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 13 (2005): 128-130.

 Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil, eds. Scripta saeculi VII vitam Maximi Confessoris illustrantia.  Corpus Christianorum, Series Graeca, vol. 39, in Speculum:  A Journal of Medieval Studies  77 (2002): 461-462.

 Robert C. Hill, ed. and trans., Theodoret of Cyrus:  Commentary on the Psalms, 2 vols., Fathers of the Church 101-102, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 10 (2002): 294-296.    

Keith Watkins, Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis:  A History of Education for Ministry, in Encounter 63 (2002): 360-363.

 Frances Young, Biblical Interpretation and the Formation of Christian Culture, in Shofar:  An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 18 (2000): 147-149.

 Eugene Boring, Disciples and the Bible:  A History of Disciples Biblical Interpretation in North America, in Encounter 60 (1999): 91-93.

 Averil Cameron, Changing Cultures in Early Byzantium, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 690-692.

 Thomas Olbricht, Hearing God’s Voice: My Life with Scripture in the Churches of Christ, in the Stone-Campbell Journal 1 (1998): 104-106.

Lars Thunberg, Microcosm and Mediator:  The Theological Anthropology of Maximus the Confessor, 2nd ed., in Journal of Early Christian Studies 5 (1997): 604-605.

 Derek Krueger, Symeon the Holy Fool:  Leontius’s “Life” and the Late Antique City, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 5 (1997): 616-617.

 Andrew Louth, Maximus the Confessor, in Christian Spirituality Bulletin 5 (1997): 35-36.

Jack Rogers, Claiming the Center:  Churches and Conflicting Worldviews, in Encounter 58 (1997): 302-305.

Frances Young, Virtuoso Theology:  The Bible and Its Interpretation, in First Things, no. 68 (Dec. 1996): 33-36.

Charles E. Hill, Regnum Caelorum:  Patterns of Future Hope in Early Christianity, in Cistercian Studies Quarterly 30 (1995): 41-43.

Aidan Nichols, Byzantine Gospel:  Maximus the Confessor in Modern Scholarship, in Pro Ecclesia 4 (1995): 375-378.

Michel Fédou, Christianisme et religions païennes dans le “Contre Celse” d’Origène, in Journal of Early Christian Studies 2 (1994): 219-221.

Columba Stewart, “Working the Earth of the Heart”:  The Messalian Controversy, Texts, and Language to AD 431, in Cistercian Studies Quarterly 28 (1993): 26-29.

Brian E. Daley, The Hope of the Early Church:  A Handbook of Patristic Eschatology, in Restoration Quarterly 34 (1992): 255-256.

Panayiotis Nellas, Deification in Christ:  Orthodox Perspectives on the Nature of the Human Person, in Patristics 20, no. 1 (July 1991): 9-10.

John Meyendorff, Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions:  The Church 450-680 A. D., in Patristics 20, no. 1 (July 1991): 8-9.

David Flusser, Judaism and the Origins of Christianity, in Shofar:  An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 8 (1989): 73-75.

Antonia Tripolitis, Origen:  A Critical Reading, in The Second Century 7 (1989-90): 110-111.

2. Shorter (note-length) reviews:

Jane E. Merdinger, Rome and the African Church in the Time of Augustine, in Religious Studies Review 25 (1999): 429

Michael A. G. Haykin, The Spirit of God:  The Exegesis of 1 & 2 Corinthians in the Pneumatomachian Controversy of the Fourth Century, in Religious Studies Review 24 (1998): 201.

Elizabeth Clark, The Origenist Controversy:  The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, in Religious Studies Review 20, no. 3 (July 1994): 243.

Duane W. H. Arnold, The Early Episcopal Career of Athanasius of Alexandria, in Religious Studies Review 19 (1993): 80.

 Hubertus R. Dröbner and Christoph Klock, eds., Studien zu Gregor von Nyssa und der christlichen Spätantike, in Religious Studies Review 18 (1992):  232.

 Alexandre Faivre, The Emergence of the Laity in the Early Church, in Religious Studies Review 17 (1991): 165.

 George C. Berthold, trans., Maximus Confessor:  Selected Writings, in Religious Studies Review 12 (1986): 299.


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Contact the Dean’s Office at Emmanuel DeanOffice@esr.edu or (423) 461-1520 

 

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